I'll Destroy You And Your Stupidly Beautiful Face
by nalunatics
Summary: Commission! :) Natsu has AP Bio with an infuriatingly smart girl, challenging his own skills in class, and he'll destroy her even if she's one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen.


Natsu clenched his fists slightly, his fingernails digging into his palm. There she went again, answering questions before he had a chance to wave his hand in the air and ones that even stumped him. She knew absolutely _everything_ there was to know in their AP Bio class, and it was causing Natsu a great deal of angst. Her and her stupidly beautiful long blonde hair, and her stupidly beautiful big brown eyes, and her stupidly beautiful face, it was an absolute nightmare! It wasn't fair, biology and physics were two of the only classes Natsu could ace, no problem, but as soon as he saw who he was up against in AP Bio, all bets were apparently off the table. Her name was Lucy Heartfilia and she was his greatest rival in the class. They certainly were two of the best students in the class, the professor would always praise them and use their work as examples for the rest of the class, but Lucy had just a _slight_ edge over Natsu that was, literally, pushing him over his own edge. So, he'd sit there, teeth grit and fists clenched, as she'd answer one question after the other- he didn't even stand a chance! He had never met someone more beautiful and smarter than her and he didn't know how to feel about it. _I will destroy you and your beautiful face one day, Lucy Heartfilia_.

 _A Few Classes Later_

"Alright, everyone," The professor gathered everyone's attention at the front of the room, his voice sounding almost as bored as Natsu felt. "Today we're going to be working in pairs to finish a couple worksheets in coordination with your textbooks," _Great, I'll probably be paired with some dumbass that doesn't know shit about anyt-_ "Natsu and Lucy, you'll be one pair." The professor's voice broke through Natsu's inner turmoil and replaced it with satisfying eagerness, _what a perfect way to beat her! I'll finish the worksheets and problems way before her, we'll see who's smarter then!_

"Okay." Came Lucy's soft reply and Natsu watched as she carefully got up and moved to an empty desk next to Natsu. "Nice to be working with you." She smiled a bit up at him and Natsu found himself swallowing hard.

"S-sure." He stammered and busied himself with yanking his textbook out of his disheveled bag. He observed Lucy, secretly; she seemed to do everything precisely and deliberately, as if she had been trained to make careful movements all her life. She didn't move too slow, but she didn't move too fast either. The professor passed out the worksheets and after chicken scratching his name on the top of each sheet, Natsu watched Lucy write her name in near perfect script on each one. "You know a lot of stuff." He heard himself say without thinking and her eyes snapped up to his. Natsu's body felt hot and he felt awkward having said that out loud.

"I have a lot of time to study. You're very smart, you know." Lucy explained, folding her arms on the desk in front of her and flashing him a sweet smile. "I always find myself kind of mentally competing with you. It's fun." She giggled slightly and Natsu was taken aback by her words.

"O-oh, wait, you do that too?" He blurted out and then let out a rather loud laugh. "I thought I was the one competing with you." Lucy joined in on his laughter and Natsu actually felt himself being drawn more to Lucy, not by competitiveness, but by how easy she was to get along with.

"These worksheets are pretty easy, it probably won't take us too long." Lucy replied and Natsu nodded. A smirk creeped onto his lips and playful competitiveness coursed through his body.

"Wanna see who can get through them the quickest?" Natsu offered, a grin plastered on his face as Lucy brought her gaze up to his. She seemed to contemplate it for a moment and a flash of excitement seemed to pass through her golden-brown eyes.

"Well, I think this is an exercise to help each other understand the work for the course, but…" She studied the papers in front of her, "I suppose a bit of a competition between two people who already mostly know this stuff couldn't hurt." She looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. Natsu grinned widely and stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"You're on."

 _Shortly After…_

"What?!" Natsu burst out loudly, catching a few eyes from fellow classmates and an uninterested glare from the professor. Lucy sat across from him, softly giggling as she put down her pencil and shrugged. He still had a couple questions left and she was sitting pretty with everything completed in the same elegant script as her name.

"I can help you finish the last few if you want." Lucy teased and Natsu shot a halfhearted glare in her direction.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too cocky," Natsu warned as he scribbled down the answers for the last few questions. "I'll get ya next time, it's a promise." He flicked his gaze up and winked at her and if he didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw a blush on her pale skin.

"It was fun working with you, Natsu." Lucy smiled a bit and Natsu decided that he liked the way that she said his name. "It's nice to have a little bit of rivalry in a class, it makes it more interesting." Natsu grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I mean, bio and physics are really my only strong suits… The others are a bit more difficult for me." He informed her awkwardly, rubbing his neck in mild embarrassment. "That's why I decided to major in physics with a bio minor."

"That sounds great! I'm not very good with physics… But maybe I could help you with some of your other classes, and you could teach me a bit about physics? If you want...?" Lucy offered, hopefulness seeming to lace her words. Natsu's heart stuttered a moment as he realized what she was saying, and he eagerly nodded his head.

"Y-yeah! That sounds great!" Natsu smiled and Lucy grinned at him.

"Why don't I give you my number?" Lucy proposed and held out her hand for his phone. Natsu excitedly dug it out of his pocket and handed it to her. In no time, she had punched in her phone number and texted herself so she'd have his. "That way we can stay in touch."

"Great!" Natsu smiled widely at her and she smirked at him, drawing her phone out from her bag and tapping away at it, presumably typing his name into her phone. Suddenly, her phone buzzed and her eyes seemed to glaze over. Her outward appearance seemed to completely change from just a few moments before. Her beautiful eyes looked dead and she looked almost as if she was going to be sick. "H-hey, are you alright?" Lucy quickly shoved her phone back in her purse and placed an emotionless stare on him.

"I'm fine."

 _A Few Weeks Later_

Natsu had been spending quite a lot of time with Lucy the few weeks after having been paired up. He learned that they actually dormed in the same building, which made it easy for them to hangout and kind of tutor each other, like they said they would. Lucy lived with a small, blue haired girl named Levy, and Lucy eventually met Gray, Natsu's roommate, much to Natsu's chagrin. They were becoming fast friends and Natsu couldn't have been happier. There was just one thing that always bothered Natsu when he hung out with Lucy though; she constantly looked far away, her eyes lacking life. Her personality was great and Natsu thought they had a good time, she never gave him a reason to think otherwise, but she always looked as though something was deeply disturbing her. When Natsu would ask how she was doing, she would always tell him that she was fine, adding a smile as well to make it convincing. But deep down, Natsu knew something was going on, he knew there was something happening behind closed doors that she was keeping locked away. He always tried to make her as happy as he could because of it, they even started a little competition in AP Biology to see who could do best on tests and in class work and everything; so far, she was in the lead with a 99, him tailing her with a 97, which he wasn't too pleased about.

Then, just out of the blue, she was gone. She had missed one class, which was off putting to Natsu because he always enjoyed her company, but he reasoned it with her having a good excuse. He figured that she was probably sick or had overslept, though the latter seemed more reasonable for Lucy. So, he had texted her to make sure she was feeling okay, but he got no response. He brushed it off and continued on, but it started concerning him more and more when a few classes later, Lucy still had not showed up for class. Natsu was a bit panicked and decided that he was going to check on her as soon as he could. So, when classes were over, he headed over to Lucy and Levy's dorm to cope things out. Levy answered the door, looking only slightly surprised to see Natsu.

"Hey, Natsu, what can I do for you?" She asked and Natsu swallowed hard against the rising worry that he was feeling in his chest.

"Is Lucy okay?" He blurted out and Levy's face became weary.

"Actually, I'm wondering the same thing," Levy replied, concern laden in her voice.

"W-what do you mean? Isn't she here?"

"No, about a week ago she said she needed to go home for something her dad needed her for. She didn't tell me what for, but it seemed a little weird."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Natsu burst out, slight anger flickering in him.

"She told me not to," Levy explained awkwardly and Natsu felt as though a dagger was piercing through his heart. "She said she didn't want you to worry." Natsu felt remorse wash over him; he had let a week go by, he should have checked on her sooner.

"I should have known something was up, I should have tried to get a hold of her sooner than now." Natsu murmured and Levy frowned slightly up at him.

"I'm sure she's okay, Natsu. If it's something for her dad, I'm sure she's not in any trouble." She assured him and Natsu sighed. "Though I am a little worried about her too." Levy wrung her hands together and bit her lip, deep in thought.

"Do you know where she lives?" Natsu asked and Levy looked up at her in surprise.

"U-um..?"

"Levy, please. I want to make sure she's okay, something doesn't feel right." Natsu urged the small girl and Levy sighed, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, she lives just west of Magnolia, I'll write down her address." Levy scurried back inside of her dorm for a piece of paper and a pencil. "I'm going to write my phone number down as well, can you let me know if she's okay when you find out?" Levy asked tentatively. "I should have told you about this, I'm really worried too, honestly. She'd never miss this much school if she could help it. Ugh, I'm a terrible best friend…" Levy's expression was one of pained worry and Natsu shook his head.

"No way, you were doing what she asked," Natsu comforted her. "Don't worry, as soon as I find something out, I'll let you know. Thanks, Levy." Levy nodded, her brows furrowed in worry.

"Please make sure she's okay, Natsu. I don't know much about her family because she never talks about it, but I know her dad can be a little difficult to deal with, and she… Her mom passed away when she was young." Levy swallowed, her eyes glistened with worry and Natsu's heart tightened.

"She'll be fine, don't worry. Can you let Gray know what I'm doing?" Natsu asked and Levy nodded.

"Sure," Natsu smiled a bit at her and turned to leave, but before he could, he felt Levy's small grasp tug at his arm. "Natsu? Be safe, okay? I have a… bad feeling."

"I will be."

 _A Few Hours Later_

It didn't take Natsu long to get back to the house he shared with his father, Igneel, and step mother, Grandeeney and her daughter, Wendy. Magnolia University was about a fifteen minute ride, but Natsu had been wasting time, pacing around his room trying to think of a plan. He had Lucy's address clenched in his fist, and Igneel sat on his bed, staring at him, looking bored. Igneel was Natsu's adoptive father, as was Grandeeney as Wendy's mother, and Natsu thought he was the best parent he could have ever asked for. But this time, he wasn't completely supportive of Natsu's decision to barge in on people's homes.

"You don't understand, Dad. You don't see how she _looks_. Her eyes…" Natsu tugged at his hair in frustration. "There's something wrong."

"I understand that you care about her, Natsu, but you can't just go and disturb people at eight o'clock at night. Maybe they had a family emergency?" Igneel offered and Natsu shook his head in aggravation.

"No way, that's not what Levy said." Natsu glared at the floor, his brain a mix of anxiousness and anger. "I have to go. Please."

"You're an adult, Natsu, but as your parent I just don't think it's a good idea." Igneel sighed and Natsu cast a look at him.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I need to go now. It's not or never, that's how I feel." Natsu explained and Igneel nodded.

"Then so be it." Igneel shrugged and stood up. "But if someone kills ya, don't come back home cryin' to me." Natsu laughed and Igneel smiled at him.

"I won't, Dad."

"Be careful, for real, Natsu." Igneel warned seriously and Natsu nodded and dashed out the door. "Reckless boy."

"Reminds me of someone," Grandeeney mused, standing in the doorway of Natsu's room. "He must get it from his father." Igneel let out a loud guffaw and embraced his wife.

"Now, where would you get that idea from?"

Natsu drove as fast as the law would allow him over to Lucy's house. It was about a twenty five minute drive from Magnolia and each second that ticked by hit Natsu like a ton of bricks. Each second that passed was like a life time, and that meant more time for Lucy to be in danger.

"Damn, now would be a really great time to have Grajeel-the-asshole give me a police escort," Natsu thought of his brutish and pierced to all hell friend, Gajeel Redfox. He was a police officer, but Natsu shook his head, _as if I'd get a police escort, tch…_

After almost an agonizing half an hour, Natsu found himself pulling up a long driveway. It was in a ridiculously nice neighborhood, it was freaking lion-statues-at-the-end-of-their-driveway nice. As he slowly drove up, he realized it wasn't a driveway, it was like a _pre_ driveway.

"Holy damn, dude…" Natsu muttered under his breath as he stopped at a gate. But what really got him was when he finally pulled up to the house. Only, it wasn't a house at _all_ it was a full blown mansion. "Holy shit, Gray is never gonna believe me." Natsu swallowed hard, his nerves were getting to him as he pressed the buzzer on the gate.

"Who is it?" A voice questioned Natsu, deep and authoritative.

"U-um, I'm Natsu Dragneel. I was just looking for Lucy?" He stammered and there was a long pause.

"She's not well."

"Bullshit." Natsu whispered under his breath, but he had still been holding down the speaker button.

"What was that, boy?" He snarled and Natsu flinched involuntarily.

"Nothing. Er, could you tell Lucy that I stopped by?"

"No." He stated and that was the end of the conversation.

"No way," Natsu put his car in park and stealthily climbed over the stone on the side of the gate. "Quick, like the ninja! Nin-nin!" He moved his way through the dark of the lawn and ran around the house until he stopped below a window with its light on. The pink glow of the light reflecting off the curtains gave Natsu the feeling that it was Lucy's room. "Hope I'm right." He sucked in a breath and hauled himself up the lattice along the side of the house. Reaching the window, that was luckily not too far from the ground floor, he pried it open and stepped in.

"Agh! Lucy Kick!" A flying foot was sent straight to Natsu's face sprawling him flat on his behind. " _Natsu_?! What the hell?!"

"Ow! Lucy!" Natsu protested, rubbing his butt. "I came to see if you were okay." He groaned as Lucy stood there clutching her chest. Beyond the surprise on her face, Natsu could see that she had red puffy eyes.

"I'm fine." She replied, sitting on her bed looking like a fragile doll.

"I know you're not, Luce." Natsu sighed, standing up and sitting on the edge of her bed next to her. "You've been gone with no reply. Everyone's worried. _I'm_ worried." Lucy's gaze was teary and her lips trembled. Natsu instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pull her to his chest. He could feel the heaving of her shoulders as sobs ripped through her, so he just held her. They stayed there silently for a few minutes and Natsu could literally feel the dread and sadness that was rolling off of Lucy.

"Long story short," Lucy began as she sat up taller, wiping her eyes and nose with a tissue from her side table. "I'm to be married tomorrow." The shock ripped through Natsu like a lightning strike.

" _What_?"

"My father has always planned on marrying me off to someone he wants me to marry, but this time he's desperate." Lucy explained and moved her hand to wipe her eyes. It was then that Natsu saw the angry purplish brown bruises in the shape of fingers around her wrist and upper arm. He snatched her arm gently and examined it.

"Lucy, what the hell is going on." Lucy looked defeated and drew her arm away.

"My father's business is failing and to save his wealth, he's marrying me off to a business partner's son. He's like ten years older than me and he… He's not a nice person." Lucy swallowed and glanced at her bruises. "This is the worst he's done so far besides screaming at me, but I don't think I'll be able to call it off." Lucy's eyes were wide and scared and Natsu felt like he was in a nightmare.

"That's outrageous." Natsu growled, anger coursing through him. "Lemme have a talk with your dad, I'll-"

"No!" Lucy jumped up, stopping him. "Don't. If he knows you're here, he'll- he'll have you arrested or something and he knows some pretty crooked people. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Then I'm getting you out of here." Natsu declared and Lucy looked at him confusedly.

"What?"

"You're going to come to my place, let's pack whatever you can fit in travel bags." Natsu urged her and she just stood there in confusion.

"A-are you serious?" Lucy whispered and Natsu nodded somberly.

"Like hell I'm leaving you here." Natsu shook his head and Lucy's eyes searched his face for doubt. In a split moment, Lucy sprang forward, wrapping her arms around his neck in an embrace, and then without warning, kissed him.

"Thank you." Lucy pulled back, her cheeks dusted pink, and Natsu stared at her dumbly, mouth hanging open and everything.

"U-uh… Th-thank you?" Natsu stammered and Lucy let out a giggle, a laugh that was filled with true happiness. "I know this is serious, but you have _no_ idea how long I wanted that to happen."

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Lucy smirked and winked at him, "I like you too Natsu." And with that, Lucy raced around her room, shoving things into bags as fast as she could. Some minutes had passed when they suddenly heard footsteps heading down the hall toward Lucy's room. Lucy lunged for the door and locked it and then zipped up her backs, Natsu slinging some over his shoulders.

"Lucy?" Her father's voice was muffled through the door and the door handle jiggled.

"I-I'm just out of the shower! Trying to change!" Lucy's voice quivered slightly and Natsu made his way to the window, motioning for Lucy to come with him.

"I'm going to climb down," Natsu quickly whispered to her, "You can drop the rest of your bags down and then jump."

" _What_?!" Lucy gasped, but Natsu scurried down the wall, holding his arms out.

"Trust me!" He hissed up at her. She gave a weary glance back at the door, dropped her bags down to Natsu, and jumped. It was as if time stood still for a moment, but Lucy hit Natsu's arms and he pulled her tightly to his chest. They gathered her bags and ran for the gate where Lucy punched in a manual code to open it. Natsu flung open his car doors and shoved Lucy's belongings inside as she hopped in the passenger seat.

"LUCY!" Her father's angry voice shouted from the door steps and Natsu peeled away. Lucy laughed and Natsu smiled at her.

"You're gonna love my dad and stepmom," Natsu informed her and Lucy looked at him excitedly, "They're the best." Lucy squeezed his hand that was resting on the stick shift and Natsu glanced at her in adoration. Lucy looked happy and invigorated, but most importantly, it was her eyes that struck Natsu. They were so beautiful, as beautiful as the rest of her, and they were finally filled with life.


End file.
